Means for attaching stays to cloth



Jan., 16, 95 E. F. MQTIGHE MEANS FOR ATTACHING STAYS TO CLOTH Filed April 24, 1948 M Tf .M N6 WM. #n mw fr w Y/ Patented Jan. 16, `1951 UNITED sTA'rEs PATENT oFFlcE MEANS FOR ATTCHING STAYS T0 CLOTH Edward F. McTighe, Forest Hills, N. Y.

Application April 24, 1948, Serial No. 212,995

1 Claim. 1

My invention is an improvement in means for attaching stays or reenforcing strips to cloth for stiffening garments and parts thereof; and more particularly to a novel type of covering for the stay, secured to the garment in such wise as to hold the stay or strip iiat against the cloth, prevent rotation and other shifting or displacement, from correct position, and obviate all risk of perforating or tearing the covering or the cloth at the ends of the stay.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a simple, effective and inexpensive type of covering that will enclose the stay completely and can easily be fastened to the cloth without materially increasing the thickness thereof or of the garment fashioned therefrom. Heretofore the use of adhesive between the stay and the covering has often been necessary, but in the practice of my invention'no adhesive is required. The result is superior neatness without loss or diminution of flexibility or reenforcing effect.

The nature of my invention is clearly described in the following specification and illustrated on the accompanying drawings. But this disclosure is by way of example only, and I adopt variations in design or nish without departure from the general plan in which the invention resides or omitting any of the essential characteristics.

On the drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of a piece of cloth having stays affixed thereto in accordance with by invention; and

Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

The numeral I indicates a piece of cloth and 2 the stays or reenforcing strips attached to the cloth to stiifen it, for parts of a garment, in which such an effect is needed. The stays are usually strips of flexible metal or other material and they may be coated with enamel or any other suitable substance.

To fasten the stays to the cloth I slip them into tubular covers 3 each of which is preferably made from textile material and in one piece without a seam, and therefore of the same thickness around the entire periphery thereof. Such coverings are much better than strips of cloth folded over the stays and stitched together along longitudinal edges thereof. If a tubular covering made of a strip of cloth folded along its length and with the opposite longitudinal edges stitched together were employed, the cloth covering 3 would have at least one extra layer along the seam of the covering where the edges thereand the cloth combined with the stay would be somewhat less pliant; and it is of course desirable to avoid any thickening of the cloth where the stays are attached, as much as possible. The tubular coverings 3 which are without seams and only one layer in thickness around the whole compass thereof give this result in a most advantageous manner.

Strips of material glued to the stays have been tried for reenforcing cloth, but the effect is generally unsatisfactory, as this mode of connecting stays to cloth tends to make the stay less pliant and less resilient.

The stays 2, each in a tubular casing 3 of the kind described, are laid upon the cloth l and held by stitches 4 passing through the casings 3 and the cloth I along the opposite edges of the stays 2 therein. IThe coverings 3 are of such width that, when the stays are disposed therein, the flattened coverings are of a little greater Width than the stays, affording room for the stitches 4, at a slight distance from the edges of the coverings 3 and the stays 2 to make sure of securing the coverings 3 and the 'stays to the cloth permanently and without risk of loosening or detachment. The stitches 1l are close to the stays 2, but separated therefrom by short spaces 5. These spaces permit the stays to move laterally edgewise to a small extent, but not enough to permit any of the stays to rotate in its covering 3 and present itself edgewise to the cloth I. The ends of the stays are prevented from sticking out of the coverings 3 by stitches I across the ends thereof and through the cloth I but not too close to the ends of the stays 2. The spaces 5 must be present and calculated to permit some degree of lateral movement of the strip, because if the stitches@ are too close to the edges of the strips the latter are apt to tear or rip the cloth i or the tubular coverings 3 atv the ends. Such damage must of course be avoided. The stays are allowed a slight degree of free movement lengthwise and crosswise in the casings 3.

A tubular covering of this kind of one layer or thickness around the entire circumference thereof with a stay therein attached to the cloth Wherever stilening effect is required, by stitches going through both layers cf the covering 3, but spaced a small distance from the edges of the stay 2 gains all the objects of this invention. And while the casings 3 are described as consisting of textile fibres worked in such a way as to produce the cloth, other material for the tubular coverings 3 may also be employed, so long as the coverings are one piece Without seam and in one layer and of uniform thickness throughout. The cloth l is reenforced and stiiened as much as necessary, but it remains flexible and the garment made from such cloth lasts longer and gives the maximum degree of comfort to the wearer.

Having described my invention, what I believe to be new is:

Cloth having a thin narrow strip of hard but exible material attached thereto, said strip being enclosed in a narrow attened tubular cloth casing having substantially parallel opposite sides secured to the cloth by stitches along the opposite sides, said casing being of one and the same thickness around the strip therein, the

' stitches passing through the casing between the longitudinal edges thereof and the sides of the strip within it, said casing being also secured to the cloth by transverse stitches at points beyond the ends of the strip, said strip being free to move between said transverse stitches lengthwise in said casing to prevent tearing of said casing at the ends thereof, the stitches along the edges being separated by a space slightly greater than the width of said strip, so that said strip is permitted to move to a slight extent edgewise in the casing but is prevented from rotating to edgewise position relative to the cloth in the flattened casing.

EDWARD F. MCTIGHE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:`

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,230,788 Uellendahl Feb. 4, 1941 2,405,900 Panes Aug. 13, 1942 

